Continuing Education
by Josie Ronin
Summary: The Ministry have instituted a continuing education requirement for Hogwarts professors. Guess who is teaching one of these very classes in Muggle London?
1. Chapter 1

Continuing Education

The Leaving Feast was over and Minerva McGonagall called one last faculty meeting before summer recess.

"Here is the Ministry's list of approved continuing education classes. You must have three points of professional development by June next year. I highly recommend you get this out of the way over summer recess." Minerva looked around the room after hearing a few groans of dissent.

Pomona Sprout piped in, "I'm not doing any such thing, I'm retiring next year." Neville Longbottom, her replacement in training, shrugged.

Septima Vector said, "I don't care, these are quick classes and I've heard we have a former student teaching one of them in July. I do wish she had stayed with the Arithmancy, Muggle studies is such a waste of her talents."

"And who might that be, Septima?" asked Severus Snape.

"Hermione Granger, of course."

"Still Granger? I thought she'd marry some random Weasley."

"Well, let's catch you up, Severus," said Professor Vector. "She is a Muggle Studies instructor at Durmstrang for five years now. She dated Viktor Krum but…"

Severus cut her off. "I am not the least bit interested in gossip about her personal life."

The Headmistress cleared her throat. "Let's get back on topic. Hermione's class, for those of you interested, is in Muggle London in July. It's about American style inclusion instruction for muggle students. It's a two day class and fulfills the requirement for the three points." Minerva passed around a parchment. "You may register for the class now or duplicate this parchment and owl to her at Durmstrang by 1 July. The other classes for the requirement are on this list from the Ministry. Don't put this off, I plan to get this dispatched as soon as possible, as I have to use school time for the students, not myself."

Sybill Trelawney looked over the alternate list. "Using Group Methods? Critical Thinking? What is this exactly?"

Minerva responded with an exasperated tone. "I haven't any idea, but the Ministry wants us to stay up to date, which is rather funny considering my age. Meeting adjourned." She shuffled some parchment and the professors filed out of the room. Severus remained.

"Miss Granger is at Durmstrang? They would permit a muggle instructor?"

"Severus, she was highly recruited, she is a very talented witch who is a native muggle. Of course they would permit an actual muggle to teach Muggle Studies. Who would you have teach it? Arthur Weasley?"

"And Krum?"

"Since you have no interest in her personal life, I'll not bother to tell you that they once dated but have since moved on. By the way, do you know what inclusion is?"

"In America it is the practice of placing disabled students in standard classrooms. Surely the Ministry is not considering being muggle a disability. I'm sure she will correct for this in her instruction."

Minerva looked shocked. "You actually know what that is? We never address anything like that here."

"Well, I may not pay attention to gossip, but I do pay attention to Ministry memoranda as part of my deputy headmaster duties. It was part of the class description, before the dates and instructors were announced. Leave it to Miss Granger to have such an obscure topic. I'm sure she's read every book in print on the subject."

"Don't forget to duplicate the parchments for the classes you plan to take."

Severus pointed his wand to the muggle inclusion parchment, made a copy and rolled it up under his arm as he left Minerva's office.


	2. Chapter 2

Severus Snape wandered around his office, as he gathered his last few items before he left Hogwarts for the summer recess. "Continuing Education! Total bollocks, I could educate a few of these old fossils myself. I can't believe the Ministry bought into this rubbish." He took the parchment for Muggle Inclusion and flicked his wand. The form auto-completed itself and Severus glared at it before he folded it and applied his personal wax seal to the outside. He took a deep breath and briskly walked to the owlery to send his application. A tiny black owl hopped on his shoulder. "Hermione Granger at Durmstrang. No response," he tersely ordered his usual school issue owl as he tied on the message. The owl tilted his head to the side, and Severus offered a small biscuit. The biscuit was snatched from his waiting hand. The professor watched the owl fly away and he left as well.

As Severus walked back to his office in the dungeons, he wildly speculated about Hermione Granger. War heroine? Highly recruited? Durmstrang? How did this happen? What does the transition from annoying student with infinite questions to a probably equally annoying professor look like? He wondered if she had managed to tone down her academic bent toward perfection. As a man with high standards himself, he knew how galling it was to see students who did not perform to their potential. How did the muggle Americans call it? "Phoning it in?" Something about not being completely present in the moment. Probably the first thing he had to change when he became a professor was to have less concern and more apathy about their academic progress. He refused to care more about the students' marks than they did. If Miss Granger had been teaching for five years at Durmstrang, she must have gotten that out of her system. At any rate, if he were being forced to complete some summer course, she would be as good as anyone. He pinched the bridge of his nose as to physically change the topic in his mind and continued packing his books for home. His last thought of her was that her eyes were some color that was not green.

* * *

><p>Hermione silently thanked Merlin that she had been paying attention in Potions. These poor birds had been coming in droves since her class was announced. She mused that some registrants just wanted to be in her company for the sake of her fame. A tiny black owl staggered onto her windowsill with the Hogwarts seal on its parchment. She told it to rest and gave a special bird treat laced with her own avian version of pepper-up. Being in Bulgaria was hard on the birds that had to carry her post, especially this poor little one who had come all the way from Scotland. She cracked the wax seal and instantly recognized the small, cramped, spiky writing of her former Potions professor. "You have managed to acquire non-red inks I see…" she mumbled to herself. "I hardly recognized it." She felt a thrill rush through her as she realized that she was going to be leading a class with Professor Severus Snape as a student, pupil, or attendee, or whatever you call people who are forced by the ministry to attend this continuing education module of hers. This class she had taught so many times before suddenly seemed insufficient somehow.<p>

Hermione scribbled his name on the Hogwarts list of attendees for reimbursement. Her eyes narrowed as she read his application notes and placed his registration in the slot on her desk for the July class session. "Thank you for allowing me to fulfill this Ministry requirement with as little inconvenience as possible under the circumstances." What was that supposed to mean? This was a new requirement, and most professors thought it a waste of time, but she felt her particular class was important. Just because the war was over didn't mean that the muggle-born witches and wizards had it any easier. She had started a partnership program at Durmstrang where the first years spent their first month with a fourth year as a companion. The muggle-born students especially benefited from this, as they not only had to adjust to being away from home, but also a completely different culture. Fourth years were in that time right before their OWLs, so it was perfect to choose them for this task. And honestly, Professor Snape didn't really discriminate amongst his students when she was there. One was either Slytherin, non-Slytherin, or Gryffindor. That wasn't really discrimination; it was more favoritism and staying in character for the war effort. The Headmistress said he had toned it down a bit since the Battle of Hogwarts. Hermione hoped that this kinder, gentler Severus Snape would be attending her class. She snorted aloud and scared the tiny black bird away.


	3. Chapter 3

Severus was amazed that Durmstrang took Muggle Studies seriously at all, as they did not admit Muggle-born students until after the Second Wizarding War, and most Dark Arts practitioners attracted to the school were quite intolerant of anyone not pure in blood. The Slytherin in him considered that hiring the Muggle third of the Golden Trio was a public relations move, but the Hermione Granger he remembered would quickly move past that. Gryffindor to the core, she would completely ignore any of it and forge on to changing the balance of the universe. Only this time, she got to be the house elf. Grindelwald would have been appalled that a Muggle-born witch was instrumental in the fall of Voldemort. Or maybe not, he seemed to have resolved his issues with that at the end, and if this Muggle-born witch was a tool of vengeance, so be it. At any rate, Miss Granger now had a high-profile teaching position at a school that would not have admitted her as a student. He smirked as he finally remembered her eyes are brown.

A weekend in Muggle London could be interesting, he had not been there in quite some time and house elves never could make proper fish and chips. A change in scenery would be good for him, he seemed to be in such a slump lately. And there would be Hermione Granger, his former student who received Outstanding in all her NEWTs, apart from Defense Against the Dark Arts. Some thought she should have sorted to Ravenclaw due to her intelligence, but he felt differently. Ravenclaw students were critical thinkers, and it took Hermione quite some time to get over her need to regurgitate facts and go beyond it to actual knowledge. Had she been pure, or even half-blood, she may have even sorted Slytherin. Those two bumbling idiot boys would be pushing up daisies if it were not for her knack for saving their hides. Now she'd struck out on her own, far away at unplottable Durmstrang, perhaps to be left alone. Merlin knows it was exhausting work keeping the-boy-who-lived-innumerable-times from doing something completely idiotic.

Severus looked at himself in his Muggle mirror. He was not interested in getting chatty with his reflection, ever, and so he took his mother's mirror from the house at Spinner's End. He noticed his eyes a little dull and tired, a few white hairs starting to show. He felt incredibly old and wondered why he had survived. 'Is this all there is?' he thought idly to himself. 'Order of Merlin, Hogwarts and Ministry required fluff classes. How did this happen to me?' He raked his fingers through his hair and sighed as he turned to finish packing for his weekend in London.

* * *

><p>Hermione stood up from her parents' kitchen table and put her tea mug in the sink to wash. "I'll be back late tonight, I am teaching my inclusion class again," she announced to her mother. She let the warm water run over her hands as she scrubbed out the inside of the mug. Washing dishes by hand was a secret pleasure of hers, and she indulged herself at her parents' house often. It just seemed homier to chat with her mum as she dried the plates and put away the flatware and she had fond memories of girl talks during these slices of domesticity. Her mind wandered to the class she was teaching this weekend, a class she had taught scores of times over the past few years. Although she didn't need notes for it anymore, she decided to bring them in case she got stage fright this time. Severus Snape had this way to compel one to their best efforts, and she did not want to disappoint him. "Professor Snape…" she chided the boys almost daily while they were students. At the time, his utter bastard persona was almost a port in the storm she called her life. When his level of involvement was finally revealed, she chastised herself for not being more helpful, more understanding, more sure that he was "one of the good guys," as Dumbledore had reminded them so frequently.<p>

When the dust settled, and all the awards were given and Snape had come out of his snakebite-induced coma, the Order had given a dinner in Snape's honor and the group formally thanked him for his unique contribution to the war effort. It was the last time Hermione had seen him, apart from the occasional byline photo in a research journal. Scotland just wasn't on her rounds, and she hadn't gone back to Hogwarts since they had the ribbon cutting for it being reopened. The wards to the school visibly pulsated as Headmistress McGonagall and Deputy Headmaster Snape sliced the ribbon with the Sword of Gryffindor. Hermione's eyes welled with tears as she remembered the moment. She then placed her tea mug back in the china cabinet, grabbed her rucksack and apparated to lecture hall they had rented for her class. Stage fright was definitely on the syllabus today.


	4. Chapter 4

Professor Hermione Granger, Order of Merlin First Class, had to arrive to class an hour early. Not because of any travel issues, but because invariably, she had autograph hounds to dispatch. Since she was not in London (or the UK for that matter) very frequently, Granger sightings were well attended, even after all this time. She tried to smile, but she was still thinking ahead to when class started. Another Chocolate Frogs trading card was shoved into her hand. She looked up and reflexively asked, "Name?" as she uncapped her Sharpie. A familiar baritone voice replied, "However you like…" Her breath caught and she scribbled something on the card and handed it back. He smirked as he told her, "See you later." Hermione did not remember signing anything else from that hour.

Severus Snape looked down at his card as he walked away. His eyes narrowed. She had written a rather quick missive. "Thanks for everything. – Hermione" She even drew a happy face next to her name. He'd have to get another autograph for Scorpius, he was keeping this one.

Somehow, she managed to start at 9:30 as scheduled. An agenda for the two days was given to the students and she started the first module of the lecture. As she spoke, Severus noticed she had the same hand waving habit as always, but now it was punctuating sentences, emphasizing thoughts almost like poetry. He blinked hard and pulled the Chocolate Frog card out of his pocket. He traced his finger around the circle of her impromptu happy face and wondered at the incredible hubris of this action. 'Bloody Gryffindors,' he thought as he glanced up. As she spoke about her experiences at Durmstrang, she seemed so enthusiastic about what she did. Introducing Muggle students to Durmstrang was no small task, but she related to the class that she had made some progress over her past five years there. He listened to her voice, and she was definitely talking, but nothing she said registered with him, only that she was not the girl that left Hogwarts with seven NEWTs. She had definitely grown up, and was amazingly still single. Looking her up and down, he decided it wasn't her looks holding her back. He tuned back in to what she was saying long enough to register her dismissing them for a lunch break. He looked up and their eyes locked. She timidly smiled and looked down to the floor. Was she blushing? Very curious, this was. He watched her turn on her heel and leave the conference room. He silently beseeched Merlin not to be tested on the material in this class.

"I'm about to do something incredibly Gryffindor…" He glanced up and saw Hermione Granger speaking to him as she leaned over his desk. 'Eye contact, eye contact,' he reminded himself. She continued, "If you haven't any plans for dinner, I'd like to take you to this nice Asian restaurant and catch up."

"No vindaloo and you have a bargain." He cocked an eyebrow and waited for her to continue.

Hermione grabbed and then straddled a chair from another conference room table. She softly spoke, almost confidentially. "Class ends at five but dinner doesn't really get going around there until seven. I actually picked this location for the conference because it's so close to Brick Lane." Severus shrugged. "Brick Lane has all the curry houses," she explained. "If you meet me back here at 7, I can see which one we want to go to as we walk around. Good curry improves nearly every conversation. See you back here after lunch." Then she bounced away.

'How strange,' he thought. He wondered about the note on the Chocolate Frog card, and about the dinner invite. He wondered why she blushed. He knew what it usually meant, but what on earth would she possibly want to 'catch up' about? With him? For the rest of the class, he tried to be more attentive to make conversation later. At five he went back to his hotel room and changed into something more suitable for Muggle curry, conversation and walking around London. A date with a former student was not on the original agenda for this trip. But as he considered it, Hermione Granger was a sight better than those vapid women he had seen in summers past. A woman who could not hold a conversation did not hold his interest long. She obviously had the same issues with Weasley, who didn't even bother to finish his NEWTs. His loss. Any man would be lucky to have her. And _she_ asked _him_ out. How odd. He pulled on a black jumper and left to walk back and meet Hermione for their Brick Lane excursion into the land of Decent Curry.


	5. Chapter 5

Hermione strolled up to the hotel and looked around for Severus. Her gauzy blouse blew in the summer breezes and she questioned her style over warmth choices when making her wardrobe selection. A quick warming charm kept her from looking inappropriate for her former professor. At least she wore trousers, she thought as she scanned the front entrance. Her stomach flipped as she saw him. Leaning against a wall, staring into space, was Severus Snape. He was almost unrecognizable apart from his trademark black, a jumper this time. She watched him for a moment before she announced herself.

"Thanks for agreeing to meet up, I thought we could go for some curry and a pint. The best curry in London is right here, you can smell it." said Hermione.

Severus nodded and admitted to himself that he definitely liked the idea of curry at the moment. And a pint? Of what?

Hermione led him to some anonymous curry house where they ordered some ale and perused the menu. "Do you have a particular favorite you usually order?"

"No. Just not so hot. I have dietary limitations due to the excess of medicinal potions I took during the war."

"I like chicken dhansak, it's somewhat spicy but not too much so. It's hot, sweet and sour. I can order it here because the sweet does not involve pineapple and they will serve it with chicken instead of the traditional lamb. Do you like tomato sauce?" Severus nodded. "Then get the chicken masala, it's not too spicy at all and the saffron rice is a very nice flavor with it."

"You continue to know it all," Severus observed as he pulled a piece of naan from the basket on the table. Before long, the hostess returned and they ordered.

While they waited, they discussed changes at Hogwarts and Durmstrang. Hermione was gratified to learn that Neville was to be the Herbology professor next year when Professor Sprout retired. Neville was learning to grow obscure potions ingredients for the school, and was quite skilled at it. Severus reluctantly admitted that having the ingredients fresh and close to hand helped his own process. He related the story of how Narcissa Malfoy kept Draco from attending Durmstrang and how the Chocolate Frogs card was to be for little Scorpius.

"An autographed card from one of the Golden Trio. Only for my godson would I be reduced to standing in a queue waiting for someone to write their own name."

The waitress interrupted with two steaming platters, and placed them on the table.

Hermione stared into her chicken dhansak, drew up her courage and started to speak.

"I realize a Chocolate Frogs trading card is an unusual place to express gratitude, but I had to tell you how much I appreciated what you did for all of us. I don't think people understand your role in the war."

Severus looked puzzled. "I'm not sure I understand what it was myself, but thank you for your sentiments nonetheless. As long as gratitude is the topic, I appreciate your efforts in helping keep Mr. Potter alive in my absence."

"It was not easy, as I'm sure you know," Hermione snorted. "Besides, it was hard enough job keeping my grades up."

"I doubt that. The only Troll you were exposed to your entire academic career was in the girls' toilet. The boys were another thing entirely. How did you manage to keep them in line? Mr. Weasley number six owes every O.W.L. he has to you, I believe."

"I honestly don't know. I just annoyed them into submission. It worked just fine until N.E.W.T.s, which they refused to take."

Severus raised an eyebrow and changed the subject, "I have a question. What do you hope to accomplish with this seminar, with this entire concept?" He waved his hand in the air non-committally. "Of all the places to attempt Muggle integration, Durmstrang is a tough crowd."

"I want Muggles to just be accepted as we are, so that my children…" She caught herself in the middle of the sentence and took a deep breath. "Sorry, this isn't exactly how I expected things to be for me. In this world you still have to choose between family and career. My mum had both and I thought I could do the same. Apparently I was misinformed."

"This would be why you and Krum didn't work out?" he probed.

"Wizarding culture is so paternalistic, Viktor was especially so, and I didn't grow up that way. The worst part was that Viktor could not conceptually understand my problems with the system. I can't sacrifice or sublimate what I worked so hard for to assuage some man's ego. My parents work side-by-side, but I can't go back to that world and I don't fit in here."

"And you haven't found anyone in Wizarding culture who sees things the way you do?"

"The Head of Slytherin should know the answer to that question. Besides, things are always different for men. You are an eligible bachelor, I am an old maid," pointed out Hermione.

"You are hardly old, Hermione. You have had an unfortunately broad spectrum of life experiences, but you are most definitely not old." He lowered his voice to an almost whisper. "Any man would be most fortunate to have you." Severus felt the truth of this as he spoke the words.

Hermione felt a lump grow in her throat. "Thank you."

The silence grew as they both had their own thoughts about what next.

The hostess broke up their reverie as she placed the bill on the table, and Hermione glared at Severus as she snatched it up. "My idea, my check," she smiled. Severus dropped a couple of notes on the table for a gratuity and offered Hermione his arm. She paid and they left to Brick Lane.

* * *

><p>"You didn't give me a hard time."<p>

"About what?"

"I paid for dinner and you didn't argue with me."

"After the lecture about paternalism in Wizarding society? It would have been poor form. Besides, you invited me, and I have yet to see your motivation." Severus stopped walking and turned to Hermione. "I'm sure it wasn't just to thank me."

"No." Hermione blushed. "It wasn't."

She looked up into his eyes and watched his eyebrows go up. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek then pulled him thru the crowd back to the apparition point at the hotel. Severus Snape was being led thru the streets of Muggle London by a Gryffindor who may have just kissed him. Amazingly enough, he was fine with this.


	6. Chapter 6

Hermione stopped at the hotel apparition point. "This is where we part ways. I look forward to seeing you when we finish class tomorrow."

"As do I," Severus replied.

The tension was palpable as they considered each other. Something in Severus wavered for a moment, then he closed his hands around hers. She regarded his long graceful fingers against her own. His hands made hers look so small and insignificant. He lightly squeezed her hands in his and said, "Tomorrow I want to try the dhansak."

For a moment, kissing her seemed the perfectly natural thing to do but that moment quickly passed. They had class tomorrow and he had to weigh his options for handling the little girl that wasn't. She had grown up, gotten a position in one of the most Muggle intolerant institutions in Europe, and was a Ministry approved professor of professors. His reverie was broken as she asked him where he was staying.

"I have a house in Manchester that I rarely see, but I do require an occasional escape from the dunderheads. And you?"

"My parents are in London not too far from here. I plan to stay there until mid-August. They kept my room same as it ever was and I think they would be insulted if I bought a flat that I only stayed in for ten weeks a year."

"That sounds sensible, coming from the parents of an only child. Do you miss them, being so far away?"

"Only at first," Hermione laughed. "When I come back, I'm twelve again, complete with curfew."

"Well, far be it for me to annoy your parents. Thank you for your company this evening."

He dropped her hands and popped out of sight without a word. Hermione blinked as if startled out of her dream that he actually invited her to dinner tomorrow. She took a deep breath and sighed to herself. '_After tomorrow, what next? He goes back to his house and I'm with my parents for a fortnight more. Then back to Durmstrang. What is he doing for the rest of the summer? Travel? Research? Catching up on some sleep debt from patrolling_?' She gathered up her teaching notes and apparated to her parents' house, where a cup of tea would be just the thing to calm her nerves. As she appeared in her own bedroom, she plopped down on her bed. The conversation at dinner was pleasant enough but she had a deadline of tomorrow evening to work out how to handle this surprising turn of events. He was so geographically unsuitable but she really wanted to spend more time with him. This was the first time in a while she had an actual conversation with someone who could hold his own, usually she could count a guy's brain cells on one hand. The machismo rolling off of them rid her of any hope for more. Summer was usually a whirlwind of catching up with old friends before she went back to far away Durmstrang for the next group of students. Harry, the Burrow, family events filled her time but she definitely wanted to see Severus after the continuing education classes finished and she wasn't sure how to make it so. Scheming was not as strong a quality in her as implementation, but there was dinner tomorrow.

* * *

><p>an I have two more chapters, but they are not cooperating. Typical.


	7. Chapter 7

For once, Severus was grateful for the lack of forethought and impulsiveness that was the trademark of Gryffindors. Had Hermione been a true Slytherin, figuring out what she thought of him would have been a lengthy dance. Honestly, he wasn't getting any younger and the data was available to him. Now, what to do with the data. She blushed at him and had eye contact issues at times. She kissed him. She invited him to dinner and the conversation flowed freely as if they were old friends. Well, eventually it flowed, at first he had to get over the shock of being with one of the most intelligent women in the wizarding world. And although not strikingly gorgeous, she was beautiful. She was so animated and alive and intriguing. Don't forget only semi-available, 1,500 miles away in a different time zone. Hermione was a career girl and she had an opportunity to turn things around at Durmstrang. She probably wouldn't allow a socially awkward potions master who was 19 years her senior to interfere with her Great Work. Severus reclined on the sofa and propped his long legs up the corner wall. '_Hermione Granger, what have you done to me? I did not retain a single thing you said in class apart from the dinner invitation. I'm losing my edge.'_ He closed his eyes and let his mind churn out some plan for tomorrow's class and dinner appointment. Honestly, who in their right mind would consider accompanying him anywhere in public multiple times? Class tomorrow would be challenging but he had to be more attentive. Swotty girl may ask him questions about evaluating her teaching techniques or some rubbish. He slid his feet down the wall and rose from the sofa to have some chamomile before bed. He was exhausted and he needed to add 'relaxed' to his mood. He pulled his brown betty out of the cupboard and steeped the flowers Muggle-style. Some things could not be improved upon, and the brown betty was one of them. He pushed down some floating blossoms with a stirring rod and instinctively made three turns anti-clockwise and three turns clockwise. Placing the rod in the sink, he opened a drawer for the sieve. As he poured his tea, he contemplated his next move.

* * *

><p>Hermione waltzed into her mother's kitchen and plopped down her rucksack. She mentally replayed the evening in her mind, thinking how interesting her potions professor had become since he wasn't taking house points and assigning detentions. Although Durmstrang didn't have houses or any competition like that, Hermione did have to assign her own share of detentions and had to admit that it did work to be extremely punitive early on with her classes. Long ago she realized that potions classes could have killed them all, especially once she saw the curriculum at Durmstrang was not advanced as what they learned at Hogwarts. Truth be told, Snape's classes could take their N.E.W.T. levels by the end of fifth year. She giggled at the thought of Severus in a black jumper. Jumpers do not billow. But he did look interesting. Was this some girl crush she never knew existed or was the thought of someone who knew big words intoxicating her and impairing her judgment? Tomorrow they would finish the class, usually she planned a group project but considering that he probably didn't do groups, she altered the plan just a bit and planned some questions for the class at the end to discuss. She took her outline and made up 30 or so random questions for the class to use as conversation starters with their own groups. She transfigured a cup into a little blue gift box with a fitted lid and placed the questions on separate parchments inside. She made the shrinking spell and placed it in the outside pocket of her rucksack.<p>

* * *

><p>Hermione spoke to the class in clipped tones, she was nervous for her departure from the usual outline and hoped her returning students did not complain too awfully much.<p>

"I have a warmup activity that I usually do with my students the first day of class and although it may seem a bit trite to create this artificial environment to get them talking, this works. I picked it up in a team building class in New York, and you're lucky I'm not making you do a group activity in its stead."

"Here is a box with 30 questions in it. I know there are more than that here, but this demonstration will give you an idea," said Hermione as she resized her blue box. "I will select a few of you to show how this may work. For now, I will pretend you are my new firsties and act just as I do with my own students. Try to stay in character so we can get the full effect."

Hermione pointed to a very young looking teacher and beckoned her to the front of the room. "Please tell us your name, where you are teaching and select a card."

The slight looking blonde stepped forward. "My name is Celeste Marnier and I teach Charms at Beauxbatons." _Well Dorothy, I don't think we're in Cannes anymore…_ Hermione thought to herself. "Take a card," Hermione suggested.

"Have you ever stayed up past midnight doing homework?" Celeste read from the card.

"Remember you are a first year," Hermione prompted.

"Mai oui, yes I have, Madame Granger."

"Thank you Miss Marnier."

As they went around the room, it was discovered that John Sorrell had never eaten sushi, nor did he know what it was. Marta Cabrini had surprisingly been in a fistfight and Marcus Lang had pretended to be sick to skive off school once. Vincent Durand was not going admit whether or not he had served detention in school.

When Severus had his turn, he snapped his slip of parchment open. "If you could be an animal, which would you be?" He snorted and tersely replied, "I _am_ an animal." _Definitely staying in character, he is, _Hermione thought. She blushed the spectrum of red and passed the box to the next student, who had never scored a point in an organized sport.

After the papers were exhausted, Hermione reminded the class that when they did this with their own students, the questions had to point to the fact that there are some experiences, apart from the sushi, that any of the students can relate to for common ground. "We are more alike than you can imagine, and this is one example of how to demonstrate this to the students. Usually I make the demonstration of a group activity as well but the instructions are in your class materials and that should do. Just remember, prejudice is born of ignorance and when they know more about each other, a lot changes."

Hermione spent the rest of the time relating actual experiences she heard from previous class groups, and from her own classes. She stopped early to fill out the administrative paperwork for various schools requiring the certifications and as the last of the attendees filed out the door, she saw Severus sitting on a bench in the back of the room.

"You _are _an animal, are you?" Hermione commented. "Let's see what we are going to do about feeding time, shall we?" She grabbed her rucksack, and Severus followed her to the hotel lobby to see where the evening would lead.


	8. Chapter 8

"I select the location this time," Severus warned Hermione as they neared the hotel apparition point. Hermione nodded and a thrill went thru her as she realized she had no idea what he had in mind. He picked up on her nervousness and told her, "I changed my mind about the dhansak, I like my new plan better." He offered his arm and they side-along apparated to the seaside near a gazebo. The gazebo was located on the other end of a craggy beach inlet with no other signs of human interaction. If Severus Snape was going to the seaside, this was his kind of place. Hermione went thru her encyclopaedic knowledge of England and made her guess.

"Cornwall?"

"Twenty points to Gryffindor. Lizard Point to be more precise."

"Why?" Hermione inquired.

He pulled a small item out of his robes and flicked his wand to enlarge it to a basket. Hermione shook her head in astonishment. "You made a picnic?"

"I wanted proper fish and chips." He reached in the basket and pulled out two rolled up newspapers starting the unmistakable scent of fish wafting thru the air. "I got these right before class ended from a chip van." He offered Hermione one of the newspapers and she peered inside. There was an inner lining of white paper and visible granules of sea salt sprinkled over the fish portions and the chips. She inhaled deeply and sighed.

"Surely you didn't come all the way here to have pollock instead of cod."

"No, I did not."

Hermione waited for him to continue as he led her down the shoreline toward the gazebo. The silence was companionable and they heard only the occasional rustle of newspaper and the roar of the ocean.

As they reached the gazebo, Severus closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. He then looked over to Hermione and asked, "What are your plans for the rest of the summer?"

Hermione tilted her head and responded. "I am spending two weeks with my parents, maybe a stopover at the Burrow to see Molly and the boys, nothing particularly interesting. What are yours?" she asked, waving a chip in the air.

"Harvesting ingredients, revising syllabi, inventory and ordering," he casually remarked. "I have no serious plans but I wondered if you had some free time to pencil me in, as I have not seen you in four years and I am feeling this to be an egregious oversight on my part." He flicked his wand and he transfigured a conch shell into a bench. He motioned Hermione to sit and seated himself next to her but he looked to the sea as he spoke. "You start Durmstrang again in September." It wasn't a question so she didn't respond. "I want to see you this summer before you leave," he added.

"Of course. My parents have a temporary connection to the floo for my forwarding address."

"That's not what I meant. How can I say this more lucidly?"

"Severus, I've been told I'm fairly intelligent. You brought me to a very secluded seaside cove. With fish and chips. How can a girl resist that?" she giggled. Hermione moved the picnic basket and slid down the bench closer to him. She looked into his eyes and feeling the time growing shorter, she laid her head on his chest. Severus breathed in the scent of her hair and sighed. He nuzzled the top of her head and she looked up. When he finally kissed her, everything else went away. There was no Hogwarts or Durmstrang, no September looming, no miscreant students in his future. He only knew a beautiful beach with a beautiful swotty girl. As he kissed her again, he also knew something would work out for them.

* * *

><p>an I don't do epilogues. Besides, Severus fought me for the ending. Never play rock paper scissors with a legilimens. Git.


End file.
